OFF THE WIRE
Elizabeth Larson
lakeconews.com
Motorcycles lined Main Street in Lakeport, Calif., on Saturday, May 14, 2011, when the Vagos visited town to hold an annual meeting. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Officials shut down streets in downtown Lakeport for several hours Saturday in response to the arrival of dozens of members of a group police identified as an outlaw motorcycle gang, and by day's end an effort was going on to block the possible arrival of a rival gang in the county.
The Vagos – sporting black leather jackets and bright green insignia – arrived in the city Saturday morning for an annual meeting, according to the group's sergeant-at-arms, who identified himself as “Sarge.”
Sgt. Jason Ferguson of the Lakeport Police Department said the group is an outlaw motorcycle gang which police had received word would be coming to Lakeport. He said he couldn't release information police had received about the reason the Vagos had come.
Ferguson said police weren't aware of how many Vagos would be coming or how long they would be staying. Between 75 and 100 were said to be in town, Ferguson said.
Police said there were no incidents or arrests related to the meeting.
Throughout the morning police had been contacted by county residents who spotted the group members making their way toward Lakeport, Ferguson said.
Although the Vagos and other motorcycle clubs have been in Lakeport before, “We've never had this type of numbers show up here, which caused us concern,” Ferguson said.
That prompted a mutual aid request, which resulted in the arrival of the Lake County Sheriff's Office, California Highway Patrol, Clearlake Police Department, the Lake County District Attorney's Office and California State Parks.
Main Street from First to Fourth and Third Street from Main to Forbes were closed to vehicles late Saturday morning as a precautionary measure, Ferguson said. Foot traffic was still allowed.
“The safety and security of citizens in our community is paramount,” said Ferguson.
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Local law enforcement agencies were posted around downtown Lakeport, Calif., on Saturday, May 14, 2011, in response to the appearance of the Vagos. Photo by Elizabeth Larson. |
A command center was set up behind the Lake County District Attorney's Office on N. Forbes Street. District Attorney Don Anderson and Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira were on hand with law enforcement to monitor the situation.
Sheriff Frank Rivero also was on scene, having left his son's baseball game to respond.
He said there had been concerns about safety after the large number of bikes arriving in town earlier in the day had stopped or snagged traffic. He said motorcycles had been racing up and down the streets and Vagos were stepping into the middle of the street and clogging traffic while they tried to park their bikes. Vagos also had been blocking the sidewalks and were being “overbearing,” he added.
“When we showed up it all calmed down,” he said.
Close to two dozen motorcycles were parked along Main Street while Vagos gathered inside the nearby Clearlake Club.
Sarge, with fellow members at the bar, estimated there were about 70 members there from club chapters around California and Nevada.
He said the gathering was just an annual party which had been scheduled to take place several weeks ago but was preempted by the death of one of the group's founders.
Sarge said most of the Vagos would be gone by Saturday night.
He complained about the heavy law enforcement presence. Pointing out that so many people are talking about stretched county budgets, he argued a large amount of taxpayer dollars were being spent unnecessarily.
Rivero, standing next to Sarge, said he had a lot of management staff on Saturday.
“I appreciate your concern for our tax dollars,” Rivero told Sarge.
Rivero disputed Sarge's statements about the gathering only being a regular event.
“Our intelligence was very clear on this,” Rivero said.
He explained that a Vagos member was beaten up some weeks ago by two Hells Angels prospects, and that 15 to 30 members were going to come to Lakeport to put on a show of force. Instead, they had two to three times that number show up.
Rivero said the law enforcement turnout was meant to send a message to motorcycle groups that local towns won't be handed over to them.
“I believe our show of force helped diffuse the situation,” he said.
Asked if they were concerned about other rival gangs showing up in response, Ferguson said, “There's always that concern.”
“They do have rival gang members,” he said, adding, “It's the unknown that we are preparing for.”
Groups of Vagos bikers began pulling out around 3:30 p.m., with police and CHP following them out of town, with Lake County News receiving reports that sheriff's units were following the bikes through Cobb and along other local roadways. Numerous other Vagos members continued to stay at the bar until into the evening.
Back in Lakeport, the streets were reopened to traffic close to 4:30 p.m., Rasmussen said.
At that point, action switched to the major entry points into the county.
The concern about rival gangs showing up had appeared to solidify, as Rivero said he and acting Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen received reports that Hells Angels were heading toward Lake County.
One of the reports, which came from the FBI, said there was a Hells Angels motorcycle run moving along Highway 12, Rivero said.
He said the concern was a potential confrontation between the two groups.
Rivero was directing numerous sheriff's units to gather at the entry points into the county in an effort to block any Hells Angels who might try to enter. Rasmussen said Lakeport Police also sent three units to the south county.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Henry-1 helicopter responded to check the areas of Highway 101 and Highway 175 over the Hopland Grade, Rivero said. No groups were spotted.
The day's activities received some mixed reactions in town.
Shortly before Lakeport's streets were fully reopened to traffic, two local women, Candy Prairie and Cheryl Ann Oncale, had ridden their motorcycles into town to stop and have a drink at Molly Brennans pub on Main Street.
“They didn't like us coming through but we did it anyway,” said Oncale, sitting at the pub's bar.
The two women said police should have given community members and businesses more notice.
That was a view shared by the pub's bartender, Jeremy Potter, who said the closure hurt businesses and employees who work for tips.
“It would be nice if they were able to keep the street open and just be present,” Potter said.
Down the street at Watershed Books, owner Cheri Holden said many local businesses had closed once the street was closed to traffic, making for a very quiet Saturday.
She also said she felt the police should have given more notice to merchants.
Rasmussen said of the closure, “We just had to make a decision right away.”
Lakeport Police demobilized the command unit at about 6:30 p.m., and at about 7:45 p.m. the Lakeport Police units that had responded to the south county were back in the city, according to Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said that at about 8 p.m. they still had about 15 to 20 Vagos at the Clearlake Club.
Rivero said he was planning on keeping additional units on scene throughout the night. Rasmussen said Lakeport Police was doing the same, and was communicating with Rivero and other agency chiefs.
“We will pool our resources to deal with any issues if they come up,” Rasmussen said.
Rivero said he plans to hold a debriefing with his command staff on Monday and then meet with the gang task force on Tuesday to discuss the situation. Rivero said his agency also will be working on a long-term strategy for dealing with motorcycle gangs.
“It appears like this is heating up,” he said.
Rasmussen and his agency offered thanks to all of the allied agencies that took part in the Saturday operation, noting everyone worked well together.
Correspondent Terre Logsdon contributed to this report.
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